When using an all terrain vehicle off road, the vehicle frequently encounters soft terrain, for example mud, sand or snow. When the vehicle encounters soft terrain the tires are typically known to sink slightly into the terrain resulting in poor traction. The use of heavily treaded tires or an all wheel drive transmission generally aren't always sufficient to enhance the traction such that the vehicle may occasionally become stuck when encountered with soft terrain.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,533,183 to Gant provides a military wheel tire assembly. The tires include as an auxiliary feature a series of paddles which are integrally mounted on the wheel rims to assist with traction of the vehicle in mud, sand or other soft terrain. The paddles however are integrally mounted with the wheel rims such that installation on a vehicle requires replacement of the entire rim of each wheel and thus the paddles are not adjustable for use on varying types of vehicles. Furthermore, the paddles must be retracted when the vehicle is used on hard terrain as the rigid construction of the paddles would cause the paddles to be damaged if they engaged a solid debris such as a rock.